Northern New Mexico makes a perfect place for sci-fi movies: frequent UFO sightings, a former secret federal research facility that developed nuclear weapons, extinct volcano caldera that still seeps through cracks in the form of fumaroles and hot springs. But there is something else, completely different, hidden in the ponderosa pine forest just outside of Los Alamos: a ghost village of the ancient and now bygone Pueblo culture called Bandelier National Monument.

Among all types of aircraft, the hot air balloon is the oldest and the most exotic one. Invented in 1783 in France, hot air ballooning has not really taken off as a mainstream mode of transportation due to its relatively low velocity and a huge dependency on weather, namely on wind. After all, a hot air balloon does not have a steering wheel, so your final destination not only relies on a pilot's skills and experience but also on a fair amount of good luck. There are many places you can fly hot air balloons, but I figured Albuquerque, New Mexico would be the best place to try it since this is where the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the largest hot air balloon gathering in the world is hosted each year in October.

American Southwest is plentiful of natural wonders and perhaps the most diverse place on Earth in geological features such as mountains, volcanos, canyons, badlands, arches, mesas, butts and so forth. Last year's spontaneous trip to Colorado, New Mexico and Utah was my fourth trip to the area after Texas, Arizona and California, and I can tell you that you can make a hundred trips to the American Southwest and still find new and unusual places that will awe you. But you have to be careful while planning your itinerary there because it's easy to keep on visiting places that will look the same after a week or so. My approach is to always find the right balance between nature, urban areas, history and entertainment. The place I want to show you today is a natural phenomenon called hoodoo. And while you can find hoodoos in other places such as Alberta, these ones have a very unusual pencil-like shape.

Show me a place on Earth where people would not have heard of the United States of America or would not have felt its influence. For good or bad, America is such a strong superpower that only a few countries dare to oppose it politically, economically and militarily. Millions of people across the globe have been raised on American music and movies, and well over half of the world's population use technologies originating from the US daily. But America hasn't always been like that. In fact, it was very different from what it is today before Columbus officially "opened" it in 1492. Luckily, there are still some places in the US that can give us a glimpse of what it looked like in the old days. One of them is Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in northern New Mexico.